Namibia: Diamonds and Ghosts

During this trip to Namibia I've been driving through the country to visit the coast, the dunes, the stunning beauty of Deadvlei, and to do some research on the sad history of Shark Island, which I write about in this guest article. Another place that I just had to visit was Kolmanskop, a ghost town which was a diamond mine earlier. See another guest article here.

In fact, this place was the world's richest town once upon a time. People living here and mining diamonds had all kinds of excentric and nutty extravagance. Today, there are only hyenas and ghosts living here. Some tourists come to visit too, but if you arrive at sunrise there will not be anyone else there.

Kolmanskop (Kolmanskuppe in German) is located about ten kilometers inland from Lüderitz. A worker found a diamond on the ground, the year was 1908. After a quick check, it turned out that there are diamonds here. The worker never got credits or payment, but other people started to get rich. The Germans fenced off the area quite quickly and opened a mining town with a sorting factory and more. The locals were not welcome, the usual state of affairs when a colonizing power appropriates resources.

Arriving at dawn ensures you the solitude and the best light

The desert continues on in as long as your eyes can see

First light is reflected by the old casino windows, creating an illusion that it's still open at this hour, many years later

The sunrise is reflected in the windows that have seen sun rise for over a hundred years

The Namibian desert is very dry, and in the winters it gets very cold at night – sometimes below freezing point. These conditions mean that nature does not destroy the buildings. Rather, they remain as empty ghosts and reminders of times gone by. The sand is the only constant guest here, it gets in and out unhindered. A bit like snow in the ghost villages of the Arctic.

It is free for those with a permit to wander around and explore the houses, the sand, and everything that remains. Some houses are quite well preserved apart from some graffiti and some glass missing. Others are in worse condition. Once you get inside, you are surprised by the sand. Everywhere.

As the dawn is on its way, and darkness retreats, it feels more reasonable to start entering the buildings, almost as if I subconsciously don't want to disturb the sleeping ghosts when it was too dark. Seeing the city through windows, from inside the buildings, gives a completely different feeling. And of course, being indoors, in someone's home – someone who is guaranteed not alive today. I wonder what dreams, ambitions, and future prospects they had? Were they driven by a thirst for adventure, by greed, had they longed for life in abundance for a long time, or did they just end up there by chance?

You can walk around and take pictures for hours. But soon it's time for the sunrise. I choose a large house to climb into, and wait for it there while the rest of the city transforms into the warm colors. Still no tourists here and it feels like an enormous luxury to experience this in silence and really be present. It turned out to be the hospital.

The view of the sunrise was absolutely amazing. The guest article has most of it, and I am updating Instagram with them. But as always, it's difficult to capture the magic of the moment.

From the hospital I walked down the street where there was a slaughterhouse, a bakery, and a few other shops. The ice factory was also here, an interesting story. It shares a building with the butcher, for obvious reasons. It required quite advanced technology, at least for the time and place, to make ice - including salt water and carbon dioxide. You can see all the parts of the production, including a dehumidifier from the time. This one may not be that advanced, yet very clever: a large frame where hay was pressed into. It absorbed moisture from the air quite effectively, then it was replaced with new hay, while the used one was left to dry in the sun. Simple, yet effective.

As a visitor here, you can get an audio guide, which is quite good and includes some sound effects, or there are guided tours a couple of times a day. Those who want to be there all by themselves can buy a more expensive ticket that allows entry right at sunrise, before the tourists come in. It is forbidden to be in the area at night. One of the concerns is the hyenas that live there, and obviously come and go freely. But there are also buildings where the interior is preserved, and they have functioning doors that can be closed to protect against the sand and animals.

Kolmanskop is definitely a place I recommend to visit while you are in this beautiful country. Bring a camera and make sure to spend some golden hour time here. Also, the café is lovely. 

From here, I headed towards my volunteering commitment - more about that in the next post.